Grand Princess

Bob McGorkic

Age: 50

Occupation:firefighter

Number of Cruises: 3

Cruise Line: Princess

Ship: Grand Princess

Sailing Date: February 4th, 2006

Itinerary: Western Caribbean

You may have heard about the “mishap” on the Grand Princess on Feb. 4, 2006. I
will talk about that later. Please allow me to give you a review of this cruise
as though it had not happened. There was the problem on the first day and the
one due to weather on the last day. Bottom line, except for the first two hours
and the last three hours it was a good cruise for us. But I realize that others
will not be able to say the same.

I might be comparing this cruise to two others. Rhapsody of the Seas (RCL) and
Elation (Carnival).
See my review at:
http://www.cruisereviews.com/CarnivalCruiseLines/Elation50.htm

Parking - Went very well. Used EZ Cruise Parking. Would certainly use them
again. We have used both the Dolphin lot and the Port Authority lot. I would not
recommend either of these two.

Embarkation – Smooth and quick. Less than 30 minutes from time we entered
terminal to being on the ship and in our cabin.

Ship – Very nice. Deck 7 has several nice show lounges and venues.
Beautiful “Skywalkers” disco. Dining room very spacious. Some dining rooms
(Elation) feel cramped and dark. The Princess Theater is very nice. It seats
over 900 and there is hardly a bad seat in the house. The main theater on
Elation is terrible.

Entertainment – Excellent! The Magician, Juggler, Comics, & Musicians
offered excellent entertainment. The magician does a close up show, in the
atrium, on the last sea day of the cruise. This is not to be missed. But I could
say the same for the juggler and the comics.

Food – Very good. You might be able to find better food but it would not be
easy. When we compare the food to Elation … well there is no comparison. The
food on Grand Princess was many times better. We chose the “Any Time Dining”
experience. This was really different for us. But, I must say, it worked really
well. All of the waiters were helpful and friendly.

Crew – Always Friendly. Always helpful.

Ports – What can I say? Ports are ports. But we really love Belize. If
you go to Belize, do not book an excursion from the ship unless you just happen
to want one of the really special things. If you want to see the Baboon Reserve
of just take a tour of the city, etc. hire a driver from the Belize Tour Guides
Assn. Do not get a “taxi”. Anyone with a car can have a taxi. To be a licensed
tour guide you have to be trained and licensed from the government. They are
great! You will also save money. You can find them on the dock. They will have
ID cards around their necks and will take you to a small building where they
will write up the charges. You may see a sign over this door that says “Tour
Guide Assn”. We have done this twice now.

Disembarking – This did NOT go great. Problems, beyond the control of the
ship probably caused many people to miss flights. The ship was supposed to dock
at 0600. Customs was supposed to clear the ship for passengers to leave by 0830.
At 0700 the Captain came on the PA and informed us that the winds were over 70
knots (80mph). This is beyond what the ship can maneuver in. He informed us that
we would have to wait for the winds to die down to less than 50 kts and then
wait for four tugs to take us in. If you looked you saw dozens of ships anchored
around us because they could not go into the ship channel as well. It was 0830
before we docked. The original plan was for the bags to be offloaded and Customs
was going to take 2.5 hours to let people off the ship. They must have sped
things up because by about 10:00 people were being let off. Because we did not
have air connections and we were in less expensive cabins, we had expected to be
let off by 11:00 if the delay had not happened. They called our color at 11:58.
By about 12:30 we were out of the terminal and before 1:00 we were on the way
home. Unfortunately a highway warning sign told us that I-45 was shut down just
south of Houston due to a major accident. It took us 2.5 hours to drive from
just south of Houston to just north of downtown. I am sure that many of those
trying to make flights were not able to do so. It was a nightmare but I can’t
say that this was the cruise’s fault. The problems with getting off the ship
were compounded by all the people who were trying to get on. Because we were not
off, there was no place for them to park and the shuttles that were supposed to
be picking up passengers at the airport were stuck trying to get people there.

But that is not the big story.

We sailed at 4:00 (1600)
Approximately 2 hours later we are just about 30 miles (or less) from Galveston.

We were in our stateroom, having just returned from the required muster drill,
when we perceived that the ship was turning. I commented on it to my wife.

She called me to see that the drawers on our dresser were coming open.

Having sailed on several other cruises and not seeing this before, I said,
"That's new."

The ship continued to turn and a moment later items on our dresser began to
slide off. I began hearing groaning sounds from the ship and crashing noises
from outside our cabin.

This is where I joked, "Have we hit an iceberg?"

Looking out of our cabin there were people in the hallway. Some were crying and
wondering what had happened. The cabin steward was doing his best to control
rolling carts and reassure passengers that everything was OK.
He commented to me that "This is deck 5. The upper decks will have more
movement."

A few moments later the Captain came on the PA and explained that he had to make
an emergency turn in tight shipping lanes and return to Galveston because of a
critically ill passenger. He also explained that the ship had heeled over more
than expected but there was never any danger to the ship.

We left our cabin to find that the ship was in disarray and the crew was busy
trying to pick up things.
It seems that everything on the port side of the ship had tried to move to the
starboard side.

Some people were a little panicked.

Here are some other facts or information we were told.

- The bottles from just about every bar were tossed from their shelves. (One
report put just this loss at $7500.)

- Some people were dining when everything on their tables slid off, then the
chairs and tables in the dining room took off and headed for the starboard side.

- The ship tipped over so much that water poured from the swimming pools on deck
14. (And there is a 2-3ft wall around the pools.)

- Several rooms were flooded by swimming pool water. The carpet in the "Horizon
Court" buffet restaurant was wet the entire cruise.

- Television sets in many cabins came off the shelf and crashed to the floor.
(Even though each shelf has a 2 inch rail around it to prevent this. A news
report listed this as over 80 TVs destroyed.)

- There were numerous minor injuries. (One news report has the number of
reported injuries as 27.)

- We watched a Coast Guard cutter rendezvous with the ship within sight of the
lights of Galveston.

- Several people were moved from the ship to the cutter.

- After the incident I noticed several people with, what looked like, brand new
casts on arms etc. One has to wonder why someone would go on a vacation, that
probably involved the beach and swimming etc. with a cast on their arm.

- We were also told that a chef was taken off the ship with injuries due to
burns during the turn. (This has been confirmed by some news agencies.)

- We have been told, by friends and connections now on the ship, that the
captain has been replaced as of Feb. 14. 2006. We don’t know if this had
anything to do with the mishap.

I know that some people have very valid complaints and concerns. I am sure that
if my wife had been even slightly injured I would be very angry right now. But
for us, and many other people we spoke with, the cruise was fun. If I could, I
would go back on it tomorrow. I also know, that if it had been me or my loved
one the captain was trying to save by the quick turn, I would consider him a
hero. It probably just depends on who you are.